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antoniothegreat
Joined: 28 Aug 2005
Location: Yangpyeong
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 Posted: Sat Jan 03, 2009 6:19 am Post subject: korean legend or truth? dogs and pregnancy... |
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several koreans have told me that it is not safe to have dogs in the house if a woman is pregnant or there is a child under age 5.
back home, i know dogs can become jelous and physically attack a child, but here they believe it is because of the dog giving diseases or things like that.
obviously, i would not think bringing in a dirty homeless dog to lick a baby's face is good, but having an indoor dog, is that bad?
is there any truth to this? or is it just a carry over from the dirty dogs living near the farm days?
any thoughts? |
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T-J
Joined: 10 Oct 2008
Location: Seoul EunpyungGu Yeonsinnae
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| Posted: Sat Jan 03, 2009 6:43 am Post subject: |
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I think it is only young dogs you have to worry about.
The disease carrying vermin I recall as being cats. No cats in the house with newborns sticks out in my mind. |
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teachergirltoo
Joined: 28 Oct 2006
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| Posted: Sat Jan 03, 2009 7:54 am Post subject: |
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| I know lots of westerners that have dogs and infants. Unfortunately, cats can carry a certain disease that can affect some pregnant women if they clean their litter boxes. From what I understand most husbands will clean the litter boxes during pregnancy and then there is no problem. |
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bassexpander
Joined: 13 Sep 2007
Location: Someplace you'd rather be.
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| Posted: Sat Jan 03, 2009 8:05 am Post subject: |
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| My mom was always fearful of the cat becoming jealous and smothering my brother. |
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caniff
Joined: 03 Feb 2004
Location: All over the map
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| Posted: Sat Jan 03, 2009 8:11 am Post subject: |
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| bassexpander wrote: |
| My mom was always fearful of the cat becoming jealous and smothering my brother. |
Carruther's other brother got smothered by his mother.
(I have no idea why I posted this) |
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RACETRAITOR
Joined: 24 Oct 2005
Location: Seoul, South Korea
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| Posted: Sat Jan 03, 2009 8:37 pm Post subject: |
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| T-J wrote: |
I think it is only young dogs you have to worry about.
The disease carrying vermin I recall as being cats. No cats in the house with newborns sticks out in my mind. |
Well, there was my home. Both I and my sister were raised from birth with a cat, who did her best as a cat to take care of us. I've never heard anyone say cats are dirtier than dogs. |
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Scotticus
Joined: 18 Mar 2007
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| Posted: Sat Jan 03, 2009 9:12 pm Post subject: |
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| RACETRAITOR wrote: |
Well, there was my home. Both I and my sister were raised from birth with a cat, who did her best as a cat to take care of us. I've never heard anyone say cats are dirtier than dogs. |
It has nothing to do with cleanliness. Many (most?) cats carry a parasite called toxoplasma gondii. Infected rats have been shown to literally lose their fear of cats (healthy rats will avoid cat urine like the plague, however infected rats have no issue with it and will actually seek it out). Because the cat is its preferred host, it's assumed that TG messes with the rat's mind in order to get back to a cat's body (this is a fairly standard practice amongst parasites in the wild).
Anyway, the reason it's not safe for women is that research indicates that pregnant women exposed to the parasite have children with unusually high instances of mental illness. From the wiki:
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Several independent pieces of evidence point towards a possible role of Toxoplasma infection in some cases of schizophrenia and paranoia, but this theory does not seem to account for many cases.[10] A recent study has indicated toxoplasmosis is also correlated strongly with an increase in boy births in humans, leading to an alteration of the human sex ratio.[11] According to the researchers, "depending on the antibody concentration, the probability of the birth of a boy can increase up to a value of 0.72 " The study also notes a mean rate of 0.60 to 0.65 (as opposed to the normal 0.51) for Toxoplasma positive mothers.
One study suggests that a possible behavior modification is that people not infected with the parasite found women with toxoplasma more attractive than women who don't have toxoplasma.[12] Another study performed in the Czech Republic suggests individuals with latent toxoplasmosis had a 2.65 times higher risk of traffic accidents than noninfected subjects; and concludes "that 'asymptomatic' acquired toxoplasmosis might in fact represent a serious and highly underestimated public health problem, as well as an economic problem."[13] |
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Goku
Joined: 10 Dec 2008
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| Posted: Sat Jan 03, 2009 9:30 pm Post subject: |
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| Scotticus wrote: |
| RACETRAITOR wrote: |
Well, there was my home. Both I and my sister were raised from birth with a cat, who did her best as a cat to take care of us. I've never heard anyone say cats are dirtier than dogs. |
It has nothing to do with cleanliness. Many (most?) cats carry a parasite called toxoplasma gondii. Infected rats have been shown to literally lose their fear of cats (healthy rats will avoid cat urine like the plague, however infected rats have no issue with it and will actually seek it out). Because the cat is its preferred host, it's assumed that TG messes with the rat's mind in order to get back to a cat's body (this is a fairly standard practice amongst parasites in the wild).
Anyway, the reason it's not safe for women is that research indicates that pregnant women exposed to the parasite have children with unusually high instances of mental illness. From the wiki:
| Quote: |
Several independent pieces of evidence point towards a possible role of Toxoplasma infection in some cases of schizophrenia and paranoia, but this theory does not seem to account for many cases.[10] A recent study has indicated toxoplasmosis is also correlated strongly with an increase in boy births in humans, leading to an alteration of the human sex ratio.[11] According to the researchers, "depending on the antibody concentration, the probability of the birth of a boy can increase up to a value of 0.72 " The study also notes a mean rate of 0.60 to 0.65 (as opposed to the normal 0.51) for Toxoplasma positive mothers.
One study suggests that a possible behavior modification is that people not infected with the parasite found women with toxoplasma more attractive than women who don't have toxoplasma.[12] Another study performed in the Czech Republic suggests individuals with latent toxoplasmosis had a 2.65 times higher risk of traffic accidents than noninfected subjects; and concludes "that 'asymptomatic' acquired toxoplasmosis might in fact represent a serious and highly underestimated public health problem, as well as an economic problem."[13] |
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That is awsome. A parasite that affects the behavioral patterns of it's host to try to get to it's preffered host. I always find parasites amazing because of their ability to have highly creative ways to infect their hosts.
Anyways, in western homes, I don't beleive this is a common concern. I know many families that still decide to keep dogs and don't really have any stigma against keeping them with pregant women or children. But like many have voiced they will oust cats because of the smothering issue.
I'm more curious if anyone has more details about the Korean origin of this saying... Obviously it is rooted in some truth but where did it come from? |
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VanIslander
Joined: 18 Aug 2003
Location: Geoje, Hadong, Tongyeong,... now in a small coastal island town outside Gyeongsangnamdo!
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| Posted: Sat Jan 03, 2009 9:44 pm Post subject: |
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| If Koreans are so worried about the safety and health of their children they'd wash their own hands after defecating, not share food bowls to avoid spreading the rampant Hepatitis and H. pylori inf | |
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